Precious ore recovery apparatus



Oct. 8, 1940. H. L. WICK 2,217,532

- PRECIOUS ORE RECOVERY APPARATUS Filed July 31, 1959 EEE- INVENTOR.

H LWIEK,

Patented Oct. 8, 1940 UNITED y STATES PATENT VFFIC j 2,217,532 s f n PRECIOUS ORE RECOVERY APPARATUS Herman L. Wick, Des Moines, Iowa Application July 31, 1939, Serial No. 287,473

4 Claims.

This invention relates chiefly to the art of recovery of precious metals, such as gold, from undesirable material, such as sand, gravel and like.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a method of recovering gold, and especially fine gold, from undesirable foreign materials.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for use in the recovery of precious metals that continuously is in operation.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an apparatus for use in the field `of precious metal recovery machines that is economical in manufacture, simple in design and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: A

Fig. 1 is a side View of my apparatus with sections out away to more fully illustrate its construction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view .of the material-receiving, rotatably mounted disc.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the disc plate taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The successful and eflicient recovery of precious metals, such as gold, is very diiiicult and this is especially true of fine or powdered gold. With the use of most equipment, a great amount of gold is lost and not recoverable. cury, potash and like is old but the method of using such recovery agents is very crude, slow and inefficient.

I have overcome such objections by providing an apparatus that will continuously mechanically coat or amalgamate the precious metal to be recovered with the recovery agent, such as mercury or like.

' Referring to the drawing, I have used the numeral I to designate a suitable frame for supporting an inverted hollow cone member. II.'

The numeral I2 designates a hollow cone member resting on .top of the inverted cone II and having its upper end portion cut away to provide an opening I3.

These two cone members II and I2.form a hollow housing open at its top and secured by any suitable means to the frame I Il.

The numeral I4 designates a shaf-t rotatably The use of mermounted in the bottom end of the cone II and extending vertically upwardlyvwithin the housing, as shown in Fig.,1. This shaft I4 is designed to be rotated by any suitable prime mover.V

The numeral I5 designates a disc plate rigidly 5 secured to the top ofthe shaft I4, horizontally positioned and in a plane substantially with the top plane of the inverted cone portion. II. This disc plate I5 is concentrically mounted within .the housing and, therefore, is directly below the opening I3 of the housing.

The numeral I6 designates a plurality of elon` gated scoop members U-shaped in cross sec-tion, as shown in Fig. 3. The disc plate I5 is designed -to be rotated to the right and these elonv gated cup trough members have their openings` facing the direction of rotation, as shown in Fig. 2v.-` These members I6 may be mounted in any suitable manner or arrangement on the upper surface of the pla-te I5 but I particularly recommend that they `be positioned such as shownin Fig. 2 for best results. y y- In Fig. 2 I show these elongated scoop mem.-Y bers curved longitudinally toward the direction of rotation of the disc and extending in .such curved lines forwardly of radial lines of the disc plate in order that they will readilyl engage any materials dropped on the upper surface ofth plate. u

- The numeral Il designates a second series vof elongated scoop trough members positionedvv on the upper lsurfaceof the pla-te I5 while the members I6 are more centrally located. These trough cup members I 'I also extend toward the direction olf rotation of the disc plate, vand one of these` members I'I is located just to the rear of a mem@ ber I6, as shown in Fig. 2. The inner end por-V tion of one of these members I1 passes a-short ,Y distance through the rear of the outer end portion of the scoop'mem-ber I6 adjacent to it in order that material caught by a member I6 will eventually. pass to and into the adjacent scoop member II. vBoth ends of the members I6 and. `I'I are open and each set of members I6 and lI1. follow substantially a Loger mechanic curve from the center portion of the disc toward its periphera1.` By this arrangement the members llwill. extend a-t a greater angle to aradii line of the disc plate than will the scoop I6 disc to it.

These members I6 and I1 may -be secured to the plate I5 by any suitable means, such as soldering, brazing, welding or like I8.

The numeral I9 designates a material feeding pipe extending through the opening I3 and terminating through the dead center top of the plate I5. The ore, gravel, sand, precious metal and like is all fed through this pipe I9 onto the pl-ate I5.

The numeral 20 designates a small pipe extending through the opening I3 and terminating above the plate I5. This pipe 20 is in communication wi-th a suitable source of mercury or other desirable coating or amalgamating material.

The numeral 2| designates an outlet pipe communicating with the inside bottom of the hollow inverted cone I I.

To use my device, it is merely necessary to rotate the shaft I4, inject the mass in which the precious metal resides onto the plate through the ously engage the inner sidesI ofthe vmembers I6 and I'I and will slowly move from the mem: bers I6 and Il by centrifugal force. By making the members I6 and I1 of copper or like material, the ymercury will coat the inner sides ofthe members I6 and I'I. As both the agent and the mass .of material is fed lto the center portion of the plate-I5, 'both the agent and the mass of material will be caught by the members I6 and I7 and Will by centrifugal force, slide outwardly Within the members I6 yand II until the same has cleared the plate. Obviously, thi-s material Will be rst caught by the member I6 and from the member I6 it will move into and be engaged by the member I'I.

Due to the curve and the singularity of the members I6 and I7, the material will slowly move by a scraping action on the inner sides of the members IB and Il until the same has cleared the rotating disc plate. As sand, gravel and other like foreign materials will not adhere to mercury and likeagents, the same will not be aiiected by the agent. On the other hand, gold will readily adhere to andis capable of being coated by a mercury or like agent. By themeehanical action `of the device, the gold andmercury will be forced together duringits time on the disc plate and the gold will either beamalgainated with the agent or Willbe coated. With the-inner sides of the members I6 and I 'I coated with the mercury, the small particles will scrape the inner -sides of these members and thereby automatically'and mechanically .coat themselves-arid amalgamate themselves with the agent. With the particles of goldand mercury clinging together, the same with the mass of undesirable materialwill pas's through and out' of the pipe' 2 I .Various types of equipment now on the market can then -be used to recover the mercury and thereafter the separation of the gold from the mercury. The mercury is thus saved and the gold retrieved from the mercury. 'Even the small particles of gold that are coated with the mercury will be of suflicient weight to be recoverable by standard equipment now on the market.

` From the foregoing, it will readily be seen that I have provided a highly desirable apparatus and method for the-recovery of precious metals, such as gold. i --Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved precious ore recovery apparatus Without departing lfrom the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modied forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. rIn a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted member, and an elongated scoop cup member extending along the surface of said iirst mentioned member in a direction at an angle to the radii of said member; said scoop cup member also extending longitudinally in a curved path and Acurved in cross section with its open side extending in the direction of rotation of said first mentioned member, an operating conduit terminating above said first mentioned member, and a precious lmetal adhering agent supply pipe terminating above said rst mentioned member.

2. In a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted member, a plurality of elongated scoop members extending along the surface of said rst mentioned member in a direction at an angle to the radii of said member; each of said scoop members extending in a curved path and being curved in cross section, a means for supplying material to said rst mentioned member, and a second means for supplying a precious metal adhering agent to said rst mentioned member.

3. In a device of the class described, a rotatably mounted member, an elongated member cupshaped in cross section on said first mentioned member and positioned near its outer portion; said elongated member extending in a direction at an angle to the radii of said rotatably mounted member, and a second elongated member cupshaped in cross section on said rst mentioned member and positioned near its center portion With its outer end slightly forward of and emptying into the rear end portion of said iirrst mentioned elongated member; said second elongated member extending in a direction at an angle to the radii of said rotatably mounted member.'

4. In a device of the class described, a frame member, a rotatably mounted plate on said frame, a plurality of elongated fins cup-shaped in cross section on the outer portion of said plate having their sides opening in the direction of rotation of said plate and at right angles to said plate with each of said fins longitudinally extending in a direction at an angle to the radii of said plate, a second plurality of elongated ns cupshaped in cross section on the central portion of said plate of a shorter length than said first mentioned ns and having their sides opening in the direction of rotation of said plate and at right angles to said plate with each of said ns longitudinally extending in a direction at an angle to the radii of said plate, a supply conduit having one end in contact with a suitable source of precious mineral bearing material and its other end terminating above said plate, a second conduit having one end in contact with a suitable source of amalgam and its other end terminating above said plate and said elongated iins having their lengths curved and extending at an angle to the radius of said plate.

HERMAN L.-WICK.

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